Don Teemsma was attending the San Diego Fire Rescue Foundation\u2019s service awards luncheon when he had what he describes as a \u201cmoment of impact.\u201d<\/p>\n
A video presentation for the Ray & Joan Kroc Center Civilian Lifesaving Citation showed Omar Daniel using an automated external defibrillator (AED) machine to revive La Mesa resident Jorge Chincilla, who had collapsed while running on a treadmill at a fitness center.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd there he was with his wife having lunch with us like it never happened,\u201d Teemsma said. \u201cSo I thought, \u2018You know, if there\u2019s a device like this that can save a life, why don\u2019t we have one in our office?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Teemsma, who is CEO of Ideal Plumbing Heating Air & Electrical and is also on the board of the San Diego Fire Rescue Foundation, contacted Maureen O\u2019Connor, director of Project Heartbeat.<\/p>\n Project Heartbeat started in 2001 with the \u201cpurpose of increasing survival rates from cardiac arrest here in our region,\u201d O\u2019Connor said.<\/p>\n The initial program for the city of San Diego was to put AEDs in every city building. Soon after, the San Diego County Board of Supervisors adopted it as a countywide program and after that, it was expanded to include access to private entities.<\/p>\n \u201cOur mission for the program has always been to make AEDs as accessible as fire extinguishers because I guarantee you that you\u2019re going to end up using an AED much more often than you ever will a fire extinguisher,\u201d O\u2019Connor said.<\/p>\n O\u2019Connor is a fierce advocate for the program she directs. She lost a niece to sudden cardiac arrest four years ago and is eager to share stories of people who experience the loss of a loved one and turn that loss into helping fulfill Project Heartbeat\u2019s mission \u2014 like the story of the woman from Del Cerro who lost her husband to cardiac arrest at their daughter\u2019s wedding and became an advocate who has raised money to place several AEDs throughout the county.<\/p>\n \u201cThe first one she placed was at Lake Murray Tennis Club and that AED ended up saving the life of the medical director at SeaWorld San Diego, Dr. Ken Anderson, who started donating AEDs himself,\u201d O\u2019Connor said.<\/p>\n Another AED, of the handful she donated, went to The Old Globe theater and that one saved two additional lives.<\/p>\n Stories of AEDs saving lives is one of the reasons for the program\u2019s success.<\/p>\n \u201cTo date, we\u2019ve helped to place over 9,000 AEDs throughout the county,\u201d O\u2019Connor said. \u201cAs of last Saturday, we\u2019ve had our 163rd life saved, just through our program participants, the programs we\u2019ve set up and managed.\u201d<\/p>\n Getting an AED through Project Heartbeat is simple. A unit costs between $1,000 and $2,000, depending on features. Project Heartbeat facilitates the purchase of the AED and helps with the state-mandated maintenance of the device.<\/p>\n \u201cWe wanted to be able to offer every element that you could think of to establish a successful public access defibrillation program,\u201d O\u2019Connor said.<\/p>\n Another element of success is training.<\/p>\n \u201cPart of our program management services is providing free in-service training to all our program participants with hands-on training using mannequins and educating on the simple use of the AED,\u201d O\u2019Connor said, adding that it is an easy operation. \u201cAED machines are foolproof. You cannot purposely shock someone unless they are in an actual cardiac arrest rhythm \u2014 the machine overrides the human user.\u201d<\/p>\n In addition to the training on the AED machine, participants learn how to identify signs of cardiac arrest and how to use CPR, which increases the number of people in the public who know lifesaving techniques \u2014 even if there is no AED machine nearby.<\/p>\n At Ideal Plumbing Heating Air & Electrical, Teemsma recently had an AED installed and his entire staff trained through Project Heartbeat.<\/p>\n \u201cThe issue of having one nearby is that every second counts because within eight minutes you are pretty much brain dead if you don\u2019t get oxygen to the brain and heart,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In addition to having one put in at Ideal, Teemsma also donated an AED to Mt. Helix Park in La Mesa where he is a member of the Mt. Helix Association.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a lot of visitors, a lot of events, there\u2019s people in the park and they\u2019re up there exercising and moving around and they could have an event and there\u2019s a possibility this could come in handy for someone,\u201d he said, adding that he will likely donate more AEDs in the near future.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re looking for two more places in our community for now, maybe we\u2019ll do more later, that would benefit \u2014 like a Little League field or a church or someplace that has a lot of people and there\u2019s public there.\u201d<\/p>\n For more information on Project Heartbeat, visit sandiego.gov\/sdprojectheartbeat<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Giving](\"https:\/\/lamesacourier.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/Untitled-1-2.jpg\")
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